The fairy tale is well and truly over.
Leicester City, author of football's most magical tale last season, has endured a sobering start to the new campaign, with Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea a harsh reminder of how quickly fortunes can change.
By virtue of the setback at Stamford Bridge, the Foxes have now lost four of their eight league matches this season; one more loss than they suffered throughout the entirety of last year's improbable run to the title.
4 - Leicester are the 4th reigning top-flight champion to lose their opening 4 away league games, and 1st since Blackburn in 95-96. Falter.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 15, 2016
While there are very real concerns over the lack of output from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, the return to reality for centre-back pairing Wes Morgan and Robert Huth, and the N'Golo Kante-sized hole in midfield, there is some respite for Claudio Ranieri on the horizon.
After running through the gauntlet with early season matches against heavy-hitters Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and now the Blues, Leicester's schedule does ease off in the coming weeks.
Aside from a clash with Tottenham, the coming month and a half sees Ranieri's lot meet the likes of Crystal Palace, West Brom, Watford, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.
Languishing in the bottom half of the table - with the potential to be sitting near the drop zone come the end of the weekend - perhaps that favourable run of matches is just what the Foxes need to get back on track.
